Current league leaders and favourites for the title Zamalek announced that they had officially appointed former Porto manager Jesualdo Ferreira, known as “The Professor” during his long career, as their new head coach after the resignation of another Portuguese, Jaime Pacheco, two months ago. The news could have been better trumpeted by the media and Zamalek supporters given the massive reputation of the Portuguese manager, but last week's disaster that happened in Air Force Stadium prior to the Zamalek and Enppi game, in which 20 fans died in a stampede, meant there was no way the media would discuss or give much attention to anything but the disaster. Ferreira will be joining the club for the remainder of the season with an option of extending the deal beyond this season if both parties agree to that. Ferreira will be paid $48,000 per month while his staff will get $11,000 a month with Zamalek agreeing to amend the contract at the end of the season if extended. Even though the league is now suspended and faces an uncertain future, Zamalek fans can really consider themselves very lucky to be able to land a manager like Ferreira. For those who don't know him, the 68-year-old coach managed some big clubs in his career, including Benfica, Malaga, Braga, Panathanikos and Porto, but his biggest achievements came during a four-year stint with Portuguese giants Porto where he won three league titles and two cups. Ferreira didn't have much success at other clubs but he has always been a well-respected figure on any of his clubs, especially in Greece with Panathanikos where he stayed in his position as head coach without getting paid for several months as the club went through dire economic problems. Ferreira said then that he'll never ask for his salary until the club is in a position to pay him and he stood by his word as he never asked for his salary until the club solved their problems and paid him his wages later on. Ferreira seems set to do the same with Zamalek but in a different style as he promised to never leave the club despite the uncertainty surrounding the league and despite the insecure living conditions in the country at the moment. He was present at the stadium during the disaster and promised to do his best to bring the league title back to the club and the fans who he said deserve to get back to the top if they're dying for the sake of the club. Mohamed Salah, who took over as temporarily coach after Pacheco left, will not be part of the coaching staff as Ferreira opted to bring his own staff like any foreign manager. As for the league's suspension, it's still not clear if the league will return anytime soon but reports say that it might be resumed in two weeks but without fans, of course, and that they might play two games per week in order to finish the season as soon as possible. The idea of calling off the season completely seems to be unthinkable and isn't being discussed at the moment but there will always be the feeling it may happen if the government decides so. For the time being, all the teams are training normally without any interruptions as the clubs expect the league to be continued sooner rather than later, but with specific conditions this time to avoid further disasters. The currents standings of the league sees Zamalek on top with 45 points from 20 games with Enppi second with 42 points from as many games while Ahly are third with 36 points from 19 games. If the league gets the green light to resume, we will probably witness one of the most thrilling seasons in the last decade.
